A BOTTOM of the ladder SFNL A Grade clash might not seem like a big deal, but for two developing clubs, it will be a good indicator of how they have progressed so far this season.
Robinvale-Euston and Red Cliffs sit in eighth and ninth place respectively, each side only having one win to their name so far this season.
But Tigers’ coach Romany Bowen doesn’t believe the ladder accurately reflects the work her side has done.
“For outsiders looking in, I guess it looks like it hasn’t gone how we wanted it to go,” she said.
“Yes, there were a couple of losses in the first half of the season that I had written in as wins, but they turned out to be opportunities for learning and growth as well.
“They made me pivot a little bit as a coach and maybe demand slightly different things from the girls, so it is not just about skill. As I said at the very start, we are working on our mentality as well.”
New to the club this year, Bowen said she used the first half of the season to experiment with combinations across the court to what worked best, but is now more settled with her starting seven, which includes sisters Jazmin and Jorja Parker, as well as new recruit Zara Copley.
“What we are trying to do isn’t going to happen overnight, and at least we got the one win – the girls only got one draw last season, so all of a sudden we are equal with last season, so what can we do to progress further in this last little bit,” Bowen said.
“I can start to see the changes happening and I can start to see the things that we are implementing at training coming onto the court, which I wasn’t seeing in the first half of the season.
“So I am quietly confident and happy with it so far.”
Although they went down to Irymple by 15 goals last week, Bowen was pleased with her team’s fourth quarter performance, and it hoping to replicate that against the Eagles today.
“I feel like the girls really sort of clicked that last quarter,” she said. “So I did say to them after that game that I want them to take that fourth quarter into the first quarter of the next game and let’s continue on from there.
“I am really hoping to see that they can carry that on into this game.”
In other matches, Ouyen United will host Mildura at Blackburn Park, the Imperials take on Irymple at Brian Weightman Oval, and Wentworth will travel to Kenny Park to go up against Merbein.
